Resource Center: News & Publications

Last Call for Symposium

by Rebecca Wiggins

It’s that time of year again: Symposium planning is in high-gear! We hope you will join us in sunny San Diego for another symposium of exceptional education sessions, cutting-edge field research, and tools you can use in your everyday practice.

Our program theme is “Bridging the Gap,” building off our 2015 focus on how each of our individual contributions build the bridge for the highest standard of excellence across the field. As the organization grows and the profession advances, we are also uniquely positioned to address bigger issues in our society, and create positive impact on long-term behavior and social change for economic security.

The symposium focuses on the role of our profession in addressing issues of systemic inequality, and building a more integrated field to help clients achieve financial security. General session speakers include:

AFCPE has been working on an exciting new program, formally launching early 2018: Money Management Essentials. It is a professional development course that covers the essential steps of money management to provide individuals with a firm financial foundation. Money Management Essentials is rooted in the core competencies of the AFC®. It’s a prerequisite for our financial coach trainings and the FFC™ certification, and a good stepping-stone to AFC® certification.

AFCPE and Sage Financial Solutions are also thrilled to announce exciting program changes to the Financial Fitness Coach (FFC™) certification program. Tailored to your goals and needs, the program will now be offered with stand-alone modules or the complete process to certification. The core training, Coaching Essentials, is a two-day online or onsite experiential and interactive training on the core skills of financial coaching. Module 2 explores the financial coaching engagement more deeply—allowing you to learn and apply new skills, and Module 3 focuses on mastery to complete the full certification.

Finally, AFCPE is working on building the self-study education path for the AFC® certification program into an online learning management system to better support and engage candidates through the process.

Government Relations

This year, AFCPE formed a new Government Relations Task Force to work closely with our government relations consultants. The role of this group is to introduce AFCPE to government officials and help advocate for issues that impact your work and our field. So far, we have submitted letters to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and the Financial Services Committee to introduce AFCPE on behalf of the Financial CHOICE Act. We have also created leave-behind documents for meetings on the Hill. Task Force Chair Meredith Lozar met with Congressman Veasey's office, and I am scheduling meetings to meet directly with Senators Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown in the next couple of months.

Bridging the Gap

The theme of this year’s symposium, Bridging the Gap, is deeply aligned with the work and mission of our organization. AFCPE members and certified professionals represent the broader continuum of care we are building in financial education, counseling, coaching, planning, and therapy. With a variety of financial professionals working across diverse populations, together we are better equipped to identify gaps and work toward solutions to narrow these divides. Progress starts with each and every one of us. Invite others to join AFCPE and share the value of your certification. Together we can continue to raise the standard of professional financial care that is provided in our field.